AI Overview: The Clash Royale May 4th update was a balance patch that hit big beatdown decks. The Healer and Baby Dragon lost hitpoints, the Mini P.E.K.K.A lost range, the huts were trimmed, the Earthquake was buffed and the Tornado was reworked. The old write-up is kept below, so you can trust each point and skip the guesswork.
Last Updated: October 2026
Key Points:
- The original says the Healer lost 10% hitpoints and the Baby Dragon lost 8%.
- The Tornado’s duration fell from 2 seconds to 1, but its pull strength and damage doubled.
- The Magic Archer’s range rose from 6 to 7 tiles and its hitpoints fell 10%.
- The huts lost hitpoints: Furnace 16%, Barbarian Hut 20% and Goblin Hut 35%.
- The original does not give the year of the patch.
The May 4th Changes, Then and Now
The big idea. The patch aimed at beatdown. The Healer, Baby Dragon and huts lost health, and the Tornado stopped being a ball of death.
Next step. For the Magic Archer’s partners, see Magic Archer draft tips.
Matchups. Against the Tornado, spread your troops. Against the Baby Dragon, bring a Zap or Arrows.
| Change | At the time (original) | Today |
| Healer | Hitpoints down 10% | Listed today as the Battle Healer: reworked August 4, best list 55.4%. |
| Baby Dragon | Hitpoints down 8% | Damage 161 to 168 on July 6. Best base list 59.7%. |
| Magic Archer | Range 6 to 7, hitpoints -10% | Damage 143 to 135 on August 4. Hero nerfed July 6. |
| Mini P.E.K.K.A | Melee range cut from medium to short | No 2026 change. Best list 60.6% over 1,100. |
| Tornado | Duration 2 to 1 second, pull and damage doubled, tower damage added | No 2026 change. Best list 64.7%. |
The table sets the patch beside today. The Tornado, Mini P.E.K.K.A and Baby Dragon all hold fair lists. The Healer was reworked into a different card. The Magic Archer moved again in 2026.
Zoom out. Patches that target one deck type tend to push players to the next one. If the pattern holds, the next patch will aim at whichever deck rose after this one, and the cycle will repeat.
What Changed Since Then
The short version. The Tornado, Baby Dragon and Magic Archer all moved again in 2026 or held steady. The Baby Dragon’s damage rose from 161 to 168 on July 6, and the Magic Archer’s fell from 143 to 135 on August 4.
Good to know. The page has no year, so match it with other pages before you trust it.
Short on time? Read the table. Tornado first.
Final word. Patches fade. Stats stay.
Plain talk. This is a rechecked patch page. It works as a reference.
One more way to see it. May 4th was a trim, not a haircut. The shape stayed.
In plain English. The patch made big decks weaker and the Tornado simpler.
Claims, rechecked. The write-up says the Earthquake change might make it overpowered. The 2026 data shows lists near 64%, so the claim did not hold up. Treat every figure as a starting point, not a rule.
The fine print. The original also lists Royal Delivery damage up 27%, Goblin Cage brawler damage up 6%, and the Earthquake with 11% more damage and 25% less on buildings. The writer’s opinions, such as the Earthquake becoming overpowered, are not checked here.
Card pages: Battle Healer, Baby Dragon, Magic Archer, Mini P.E.K.K.A, Tornado and Earthquake.
Zoom in. The Tornado is still a staple. If its best list stays above 64%, expect another tweak, and expect splash decks to feel it first.
How to Use This Today
Play the Tornado with a splash troop. Its best list wins 64.7%, though the old splash trick is gone.
Small habit. Read the patch notes before you queue.
Extra tip. Pair the Magic Archer with a tank that holds the line.
Last tip. Pull a tank into your tower and let the tower do the work.
Quick recap. Tornado pulls, Healer helps, Baby Dragon flies.
Reality check. A nerf changes a deck, not a player.
Bottom line. The Tornado and Mini P.E.K.K.A kept their jobs.
Worth knowing. For the Tornado’s partners, see the Tornado page.
Tips. Check the Tornado’s duration before you plan a pull. It was cut to 1 second. Open the linked card pages before you queue, since one balance patch can flip a trade.
Use the Mini P.E.K.K.A as a defender. Its best list wins 60.6%, and its short range makes it easier to block on offense.
Check the Battle Healer as a new card. It was reworked on August 4 and is no longer the healer of 2021.
Zoom out again. If beatdown keeps getting patched, the slow decks may fade for good. The risk is a ladder of fast cycle decks, where a long game feels like a loss waiting to happen, and where patient players quit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the Clash Royale May 4th update?
The original calls it a balance update that changed the Healer, Royal Delivery, Baby Dragon, Magic Archer, Mini P.E.K.K.A, Goblin Cage, huts, Earthquake and Tornado. Use it as a guide, and check the linked pages for the current details.
How was the Tornado changed?
Its duration fell from 2 seconds to 1, its pull strength and damage doubled, and it got tower damage.
Which huts were nerfed?
The Furnace by 16%, the Barbarian Hut by 20% and the Goblin Hut by 35%.
What happened to the Mini P.E.K.K.A?
Its melee range went from medium to short.
Is the Tornado good in 2026?
Its best list wins 64.7% over about 1,900 battles, with no change this year.
Original Guide, Kept in Full
The text below is the original page, kept in full. It was written between 2016 and 2024, so some details are out of date. The tips and numbers above use 2026 sources.
What’s up! It’s yo boy, Nitrome95 here bringing you with the most up to date Clash Royale news! Today, we will be discussing the May 4th Balance Updates and what it could mean for the change in meta! Without further ado, let’s get straight to it!
While this won’t have the same thoroughness of an OJ video with all the interactions, I intend for this to have more of an overall look at how the balance changes will shake up the meta.
Healer
Reduced hp by 10%
This lass has been dominating the meta in big beatdown decks where the healer’s splash could heal tons of troops while also maintaining its own health. If left unchecked, a single Healer can get so much value to snowball a push into a 3 crown!
While the Healer still cannot be one-shot by any spells, a large reduction in hp will make her more manageable while you are defending against her.
If you are defending with a Healer, you will need to spend more elixir to prevent her from dying so that she can counterpush.
If you are attacking with a Healer, she will be weaker towards mid dps troops (Musketeer, Valk, Knight, etc.) This will nerf big beatdown pushes as a whole.
Royal Delivery
Increased damage by 27%
Before you think this is an op buff, realize that spells usually have more drastic buffs and nerfs because they deal much less damage than traditional troops.
In my opinion, this card will still be super niche. It will likely kill a bunch of low/mid hp troops (Wizard, Musketeer, Knight), one shot faster, but there’s no reason why you can’t just use valkyrie. It has much better splash, damage, and hp for counterattacking, so you get a lot more value from one more elixir.
I guess it can be useful in a few scenarios though. Compared to Valkyrie, it is more effective in dealing with Goblin Barrel. Also, the push back in some scenarios can be helpful on defense. Still very trash on offense though. The benefit that also might help is that the Royal Guard takes no damage before it’s “first swing” (the drop damage), while the Valkyrie does.
Like I said, still niche.
Baby Dragon
Decreased health by 8%
Very similar to Healer, this card was just SO HARD to deal with on defense if you didn’t have a super strong air counter. This will make it easier to defend against and once again nerf big beatdown decks.
Magic Archer
Range increased by 1 tile (6>7), Health decreased by 10%
I REALLY like this change. Now, Magic Archer will have more range than Dart Goblin while decreasing its health to account for the fact that it’s harder to hit.
This lines up more with the philosophy that it’s a support card like Princess instead of a regular range card like a Musketeer or Wizard. I never thought this card was too good or too bad but I really appreciate the design change.
MIni Pekka
Melee Range reduced from Medium to Short
This is a really big deal. While Mini Pekka will still be great value on defense, it is heavily nerfed on offense. Because it’s range is decreased, you should be able to wedge certain cards between your tower and the Mini Pekka to prevent damage after it locks on to your tower.
In general, it also gives your troops about one more hit on the Mini Pekka before it locks on your tower: the difference between no damage and a truckload of damage.
Goblin Cage
Goblin Brawler damage increased by 6%
Not much to say here. This card sucks, hopefully it’ll be more threatening.
Huts/Spawners
Health Nerfs: Furnace 16% Barbarian Hut 20%, Goblin Hut 35%
These nerfs will allow you to play a lot more offensively against spawners for 2 reasons
- You can penetrate their defenses sooner to get some nice shots on the tower.
- Attacking a building will deny more hordes, giving more elixir value to your defense.
Goblin Hut was the strongest of the three, hence the biggest nerfs.
Earthquake
Damage Increased by 11%, Building Damage Decreased by 25%
Not sure how I feel about this buff. On one hand, I think it’s great for the utility of the card. It was very niche because for 3 Elixir it could counter lots of buildings while not being too useful outside of it.
On the other hand, I think it’s too much. Now, Earthquake can slow troops, do good building damage, and now can do considerable damage to troops! I feel this is the same problem as tornado and that this change will make Earthquake OP.
Tornado
Duration Decreased from 2 to 1 second, Pull Strength Doubled, Damage Per Second Doubled. Now does tower damage.
We’re saving the best for last! For the past year, Tornado has been a staple in so many decks – it does everything it needs to. Attack? Just pull the defending troops to the tower and you’ll obliterate them. Defend against a beatdown push? Pull the troops together and splash them for max damage! Any squishy troops? Too bad! A Hog push? Just pull it to the king tower.
Basically, this card does everything. By decreasing the duration by 1 second, but increasing the pull strength and damage, they are keeping the pulling and damage constant, just nerfing the splash nado combo.
Now, Tornado will serve ONLY to bring the troops together and won’t keep them there in a ball of death.
A nice added bonus was to give it tower damage to prevent the card becoming too niche.
Conclusion
Who lost the most from these nerfs? The biggest nerf was to Golem. The Tornado, Baby Dragon, and Healer nerfs were all big hits at Golem and big beatdown. The huts will also nerf certain beatdown decks by weakening their defense. Also, the nerfs will affect lots of splash nado Graveyard decks. I still think these decks will be threats in the meta.
In turn, everything else gets a nice small buff in relation to these decks. Lots of cycle decks struggle with Graveyard so these buffs could help.
Anyways, this is just my opinion. Comment below if you agree or disagree and I’ll see you next time!
See how this change affects your own deck: the Patch risk tab in the Clash Royale Deck Builder scores every card by its recent balance changes.
Sources
Researched from the following (no links, listed for transparency):
- CryptoAIMeta card guides for these cards, built from RoyaleTracker October 2026 samples and SeeMeta 2026 balance changes
- SeeMeta, Clash Royale balance changes 2026 (page updated October 2026), read through search summaries
- Supercell official Clash Royale API, card list (elixir cost, rarity, unlock arena)
- The original clash.world page (2016 to 2022), kept in full below